1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to biosourced polycarbonate, and specifically to biosourced polycarbonate compositions having improved ductility and aging resistance.
2. Technical Background
Polymers based on aliphatic diols derived from biologically-based sources are of great interest in the plastics industry and in manufacturing, for the preparation of materials and products that can be derived from inexpensive, renewable sources and that also are biodegradable, and thereby have a low net environmental impact. Of particular interest are polymers based on isosorbides. These materials are of great interest to the chemical industry, and in particular in the production of polymeric materials such as polycarbonates, because such aliphatic diols can be produced from renewable resources rather than from the petroleum feedstocks used to prepare other monomers useful in the production of polycarbonates, such as bisphenol monomers. This bio-sourced polycarbonate (PC) can have high tensile modulus, scratch resistance, and can be processed at 250° C.
For practical applications, polycarbonate incorporating isosorbide needs a balance of properties to be useful. Polycarbonates in general should have sufficiently high molecular weight for desirable mechanical properties, and sufficiently low glass transition temperatures and flow to be useful in molding and extrusion applications. While bio-sourced polycarbonate can provide improved properties over conventional petroleum based polycarbonate materials, existing bio-sourced polycarbonate materials exhibit poor ductility, heat and hydro aging resistance, and UV aging resistance.
Thus, there remains a continuing desire in the industry for continued improvement in bio-sourced polycarbonate materials, including a need for polycarbonate compositions having improved ductility, heat and hydro aging resistance and UV aging resistance. These needs and other needs are satisfied by the compositions and methods of the present disclosure.